Growing tourism opportunities for Kuching and Pontianak
- BT
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
PONTIANAK, 15 November 2025: With the recent reinstatement of direct flights between Kuching and Pontianak, the province of West Kalimantan is looking to further strengthen cross-border tourism between Sarawakians and Indonesians.
As part of an ongoing 5D4N Familiarisation Trip which brings media personnel and social media influencers from Kuching to Pontianak and Singkawang in West Kalimantan, we paid a courtesy visit to the West Kalimantan Governor’s Office upon our arrival, where we were received by a number of government officials, including Regional Secretary of West Kalimantan Province, Dr. Harisson, M. Kes.
Organised by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in Kuching jointly with AirAsia, this Familiarisation Trip marks an important milestone for both parties, as the opportunity for cross-border cooperation and tourism has expanded exponentially thanks to the direct flights between Pontianak and Kuching.
“This direct flight route is the main key to increasing tourism connections between the two regions, as the journey now only takes about 30 minutes, with affordable tickets. In the past, the route from Kuching to Pontianak could take up to 7 hours,” shared Executive Consul (Economy), Musa Derek Sairwona during the courtesy visit.
“Medical Tourism is a big part of why we travel to Sarawak, due to the efficiency, warm hospitality and technology. However, it is our hope that with familiarisation trips such as this and media coverage of our culinary and tourism attractions, we’ll be able to attract more and more Sarawakians to our side of the border,” shared Dr. Harrison during the courtesy visit yesterday.
Also in attendance at today’s courtesy call were representatives of the West Kalimantan Province, including First Assistant of the Regional Secretary, Dra. Linda Purnama, M.Si., Head of Youth, Sports and Tourism, Windy Prihastari, S.STP., M.Si., Head of Development Planning, Dra. Mahmudah, M.M., and Head of Border Management, Sefpri Kurniadi, S.STP, as well as other participants in the Familiarisation Trip, which includes Director of Sarawak Affairs at AirAsia, Hamdan Mohamad, media personnel from BorneoTalk, BERNAMA, Suara Sarawak, TVS, Sarawak Tribune, Sin Chew Daily, media personalities Tracey E. Hughes and Qayyum Jawi and digital media platforms Wanka Travel and Sarawak Edition.
